Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

IRWIN, Dennis

(b 28 November 1951, Birmingham AL; d 10 March 2008, NYC) Upright bass. He began on clarinet, moved to Houston TX in his teens and played alto sax and sang in R&B bands. At 19 he attending North Texas State University, famous for its jazz program, switching to upright bass and joining the school’s Two O’Clock Big Band. In 1974 he went to New York for a visit, thinking to return to Texas and get a degree in clarinet, but instead soon told his family to sell all his stuff and send him the money: broke as he was, he had to stay in New York, where he became one of the most successful on his instrument for his deep swing, and one of the best-loved musicians around for his sense of humor.

During his career he played with Mose Allison, Chet Baker, Tony Bennett, Art Blakey (with the Jazz Messengers for three years), Charles Brackeen, Joshua Breakstone, Ann Hampton Calloway, Betty Carter, Ted Curson, Albert Daily, Bill Frisell, Red Garland, Stan Getz, Johnny Griffin, Carter Jefferson, Joe Lovano, Tania Maria, Adam Nussbaum, Annie Ross, Jackie Paris, John Scofield (albums What We Do, Hand Jive, Groove Elation), Horace Silver, and many more. He made a duo album called Focus with James Williams, another bassist, in 1977. Landing the bass job in the Mel Lewis band he played every Monday night in that band for the rest of his life; his life-long close friendship with Lovano began there. He was a founder member of Lovano's nonet, and played on that group's Streams of Expression in 2005. He made eleven albums on the Criss Cross label alone with half a dozen different small groups, and played on over 500 albums during his career. He had an affinity for Brazilian music, and played with Duduca Fonseca and Portinho among others; the pianist Dom Salvador introduced him to choro, and his dream was to make an album of choro music on the clarinet.

But he was diagnosed with a spinal tumor in 2007. During his final weeks Irwin received an outpouring of support from fellow musicians, who organized benefit concerts to assist in paying for his medical care. Like a lot of musicians, Irwin did not have health insurance. A benefit held at Jazz at Lincoln Center instead became a tribute the day after he died, with Allison, Bennett, Lovano, Scofield, and many others scheduled to take part, and Jazz at Lincoln Center announced that there will be an annual concert to help musicians in need. The New York Times reported that the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in Englewood NJ, where Irwin was diagnosed, would create the Dennis Irwin Memorial Fund, making free cancer screenings available to veteran jazz and blues musicians who are uninsured.